Gazans protest dire economic conditions and tax hikes ('We want to live' protests), 2019

In February of 2019, a hashtag reading “We Want to Live” (WWL) in Arabic began circulating on Gazan social media pages. Those posting the hashtag were protesting the deteriorating economic conditions, the high cost of living, and the recent tax increases imposed by Hamas (the ruling authority in Gaza) on the residents of the Gaza strip. On 10 March 2019, thirteen activists met in the home of one of the organizers to plan a public demonstration. Hamas security personnel, who had been tracking the hashtag online, raided the home and arrested the group.

Despite this attempt by Hamas authorities to nip the campaign in the bud, the first protests took place as planned on 14 March 2019 in various locations throughout the Gaza Strip, including Jabalya, Al-Bureij, Nuseirat, Khan Yunis, and Rafah. At the demonstrations, protesters held up signs that read "we want to live the same life of luxury, money and cars as Hamas' leaders' sons.” They also chanted slogans while marching through the streets and burning tires. Besides protesting the grim economic situation, the protestors stated in newspaper interviews that they were fighting for more protection of human rights, such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom to peacefully protest. The protestors called for Hamas, as the governing authority, to provide Palestinians in Gaza with the democratic and economic rights they deserved.

Hamas security forces responded by beating the protestors and firing live ammunition into the air. Footage of the Hamas forces dispersing the protests by force circulated widely online. After the protestors were forcibly dispersed, Hamas forces raided the homes of families of those involved in the protests, arrested dozens, and held them for varying lengths of time.

The next morning, on 15 March, protestors planned multiple protests to take place that same day. Hamas mobilized its own supporters to take part in rallies at the same locations and times as the WWL protests in order to stop them from taking place. The campaign organizers delayed their protests to avoid a direct clash with Hamas forces. Nevertheless, Hamas police once again used force to break up the protests, arresting many in the process, including journalists and human rights activists, from whom the security forces confiscated cameras and cellphones.

Despite the security forces’ measures to suppress any media coverage, local journalists published reports of the protests in Gaza and throughout the Arab world. The protests became known as the “‘We want to live’ protests” (or in Arabic, “Bidna Na’eesh”), the “hunger protests” and the “March 14 protests.” Hamas held many of the protestors for days and even weeks in Hamas prisons, and others were placed under house arrest. Authorities made those released from custody pay a fine and sign a pledge stating that they would not take part in protests again. Many of those released from Hamas jails also reported being beaten and tortured while detained.

Despite the organizers of the campaign openly stating they had no party affiliation, Hamas claimed the protests were fomented by their political opponent, Fatah. According to Fatah leadership, Hamas forces stormed the homes of Fatah members in the Gaza strip and intimidated their families through threats of violence and destruction of property. After the March 15 protests, Hamas military forces (Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades) broke into the homes of those arrested, beat or threatened their family members and caused damage to property in the process. The same day (March 15), Hamas forces raided the Al-Azhar university and arrested students they suspected of being involved with the campaign.

The WWL organizers called for a general strike and days of civil disobedience on 20 and 21 March. They also proposed that Friday prayers be held in the public squares as a "rejection of the [Hamas] dominance policies and accusations directed by Hamas spokesmen against the protesters." Due to the violent responses from riot police during the first days of the demonstrations, it became unclear if the general strike would take place, and there are no known reports of it having happened.

The demonstrations continued to take place between March 14th and March 18th with thousands demonstrating every day. Hamas arrested over 1,000 people over the course of a week in an attempt to suppress the protests, 45 of them being journalists. Besides journalists, Amnesty international also reported that Hamas arrested several human rights defenders and activists during the week of the protests. On March 19th, Hamas put out an official statement which declared that the they felt “regret for any material damage or personal harm caused to anyone”; however, in the same statement, Hamas also characterized the security forces’ actions over the past week as having "thwarted an organized plan of chaos in Gaza, which was sponsored by [Fatah’s Palestinian Authority] General Intelligence Service.”

In the week that followed, several Palestinian factions in Gaza voiced their support for the WWL movement and their demands, which the factions stated included “establishing a labor office that protects workers’ rights from exploitation; ending control of goods and prices by some parties and monitoring the work of the private sector; and suspending all taxes burdening citizens.” The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organisations Network, which consisted of over 100 charities, also endorsed the protests and condemned Hamas for violating the rights of Gazan citizens.

After March 21, the protests subsided, and Hamas suspended some of the new taxes they had imposed but reinstated them two weeks later. The WWL protest movement lives on as the WWL independent youth movement, which has continued to operate mostly online; the movement has also organized demonstrations in the years that have followed with similar goals and been met with similar repressive violence, as in 2019.